


The Winter Rose

by StellarLibraryLady



Series: Star Trek Winter Holidays Series [34]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Blue Jays - Freeform, Botanical Garden, Chocolate Reference, Cold, Cold Weather, Friendship, Hope, M/M, Rabbits, Snow, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Winter Landscape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28581405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarLibraryLady/pseuds/StellarLibraryLady
Summary: Spock persuades McCoy to accompany him on a walk in wintertime to see all of the wonders of Nature in a botanical garden.McCoy might be more impressed if he wasn't so chilly.
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Series: Star Trek Winter Holidays Series [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/670427
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	The Winter Rose

"So why did you want to drag me out into this frozen wasteland?" McCoy complained as the sharpness of a Northern wind bit gleefully at any exposed skin that his cold weather gear neglected to cover. "It's the dead of winter! Nothing much is going on out here this time of the year! Just a lot of ice and snow and cold air!"

"But that is where you are mistaken, Doctor," Spock said as he gazed around him in the botanical gardens of the large American city they were visiting. Frosty air formed whenever he breathed out, but he did not seem to notice it. "There is a lot to be seen here if we just seek to find it. Botanical gardens are for year-round observing, not for just the warm months. While it is true that many animals hibernate or migrate to warmer climes when colder weather sets in and the days shorten, some still are active all yearlong and indeed must seek out prey to survive during the cold months. Even plants go dormant with the lessening of daylight. That is why trees lose their leaves in Autumn. They are drawing their energy into the core, the trunk, if you will, so that new leaves can be produced when milder temperatures arrive again."

"That's quite poetic."

"That is the way of Mother Nature on Terran," Spock explained and his appreciation for the beauty of the whole system was apparent. "If your home planet was not tilted and did not wobble, the phenomenon known as the change of the seasons would not occur. Add to that the constant addition of new elements into the atmosphere-- be it microbes or space dust on the molecular level, or larger particles from falling meteorites or passing comets-- the landscape of Terran is constantly changing because of these additions and seasonal alterations. And let us not forget the changes that are constantly going on inside and on the surface of the planet itself," Spock said, warming to his topic. "Wind and water and temperature change keep tearing down and dissolving and sculpting exteriors, while all the while underground volcanoes force molten lava up through vents to create new land."

"You're really into this, ain't ya?" It was almost amusing how childlike and enthusiastic Spock had become.

"The natural science of your home planet is fascinating to me after the relative bleakness of mine."

"You can see that?" McCoy asked, startled.

"You have no idea what a revelation Terran was when I first saw it. I had read of it, of course, and had seen pictures. But to be on the planet itself was an onslaught of all of my senses."

McCoy thought of Vulcan's bleakness. Earth must've seemed like a calliope of sound and a kaleidoscope of colors and textures after that.

"I marvel at the uniqueness of this terrain. Even the land does not remain permanent on its location, but over the eons moves on a system of plate tectonics that produces earthquakes. And the shifting of these land formations grind and tear at each other. No, that is why this planet is so alive and so vital." His eyes were beginning to glow. "It has been said that we are living in a time of permanent change. In other words, nothing stays the same. For if it did, it would eventually stagnate and die. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that change is the only reality in nature. For even in the Fifth Century B.C. that much was evident to your forbearers."

For several moments McCoy had thought that he was being lectured to by a professor of Natural History. But when the subject changed to Philosophy, he decided that he needed to bring them back to earth, so to speak, even though Heraclitus's only surviving work On Nature dealt with Spock's main thesis. On any other given day, McCoy would be glad to debate Spock about his conclusions. Only two reasons stopped McCoy from doing so now. For one thing, Spock was right when he said that the constant changing of Terran was what kept it viable and vital. For another, McCoy was freezing his buns off out here and wanted Spock to make his point and not get sidetracked anymore!

McCoy glanced around, trying to see with Spock's vision. Except for white-tipped evergreen trees and bushes, the familiar green landscape of summer was now encased in a thick blanket of snow. It looked like a landscape that Time and most people had forgotten. No one else was around except for a couple of Starfleet officer out of their element.

"Well, the cold air is rather invigorating," McCoy admitted, trying to find something good to say so he wouldn't sound like an old bear all of the time. After all, Spock had asked him to join him on this outing instead of going by himself. Otherwise, McCoy might still be sitting back in his anonymous room-- the room belonging to strangers and only temporarily his-- wondering what to do with himself.

"That is because it is not laden with the humidity that hot weather brings. And it is also invigorating because it is full of oxygen which was sadly lacking in the air of the home in which we were staying. That air was overheated, and we were breathing its staleness over and over. That is why I thought that we would benefit from a visit to these gardens. It will sharpen our minds and cleanse our bodies of airborne impurities present in poorly ventilated structures."

"You know if fresh air was all that you were wanting, a brisk walk in the neighborhood park a couple of blocks from the house would've done a lot to have cleared the ol' cobwebs outa our noggins, don't you think? And the family spaniel would've loved gotten out of the house a little bit himself. Besides, I thought you were the one who hated the cold." McCoy glanced at Spock's head. Even though Spock wore a thick woolen cap over his dark hair, his ears-- those magnificent ears that marked him as being different-- were exposed to the adverse weather conditions. "Keep parading around in this weather the way you're doing now and the points of your ears will freeze off and then you'll be just like me."

Of course he should have said "you'll look just like me," and of course Spock caught it. But he had the grace to return it gently.

Spock shot him a humorous look. "There is no way that I will ever be just like you, Doctor. Even if I tried, I doubt if I could ever reach that esteemed state. In this whole universe, there is only one Dr. Leonard McCoy."

"Small blessings," McCoy muttered, trying to ignore the compliment he'd been handed. "You're just being obtuse. You know what I mean."

Spock's eyes twinkled. He was pretending to be slow-witted just to pester McCoy a little bit. "Perhaps."

McCoy gracefully changed the subject. They were both being careful not to dissolve into bickering. Maybe they both recognized that it was a special occasion and were trying not to spoil it. "So why am I out here today anyway?"

"Why, I brought you with me because you are so adventuresome."

McCoy blinked. Hard. "Me?! Adventuresome?!" But his voice held a chuckle, not his usual ire. "What gave you that idea?! It's JIM who likes taking chances and laughing heartily whenever he cheats Death out of his hide again!"

"Odd, I thought that was you."

"I repeat, what gave you that idea?"

"Why, you serve aboard a Starship which is encased in a thin shell even though you object to the concept of space travel. You accompany Jim on away missions to strange planets with heathen cultures and unknown dangers and fight to the death whatever crosses your path, even though you took an oath to preserve life anywhere and however you found it." Spock's eyes twinkled. "And you agreed to come along with me this afternoon although the air temperature is below freezing and the thin sunlight low in the southwestern sky offers nothing in the way of warmth. It is a false promise that does not materialize even though it gives faint reassurances."

"Well, you know, somebody had to go along with you," McCoy grumbled.

"And I am glad that it was you," Spock told him amiably with a pleasant look on his rugged face. The shadow of something resembling almost a smile floated across his countenance and softened into a new vulnerability that McCoy had never seen before.

McCoy jerked. Had the Vulcan slipped up? He'd almost sounded sentimental. Should McCoy call him on it? Or should he just play along and not make a big deal about it?

He decided on a compromise.

"And I'm glad it was me, too. Now," he said efficiently as he looked around him with all thoughts of the cold air gone from his conscientiousness. "Are we looking for anything in particular on this jaunt, or we are just spotting whatever flora and fauna there is to be seen?"

"Well, there are those blue jays over in those bushes, and they are enjoying the dried berries on the brittle branches," Spock directed as he pointed. "The jays are quite noisy and chatty today about their luncheon."

"That's blue jays for you. They couldn't sneak around if their life depended on it. They always have to make certain that everyone knows that they have arrived and that they have an opinion about everything." He felt Spock's eyes on him and saw the amused look on Spock's face. "Don't even say it."

Spock didn't, but had to glance away because the corners of his mouth were twitching in humor.

McCoy pointedly got back to the business of noticing nature. After all, that was why they were out here in the freezing cold. Hmm, now that he thought about it, though, it didn't seem quite as chilly as when they had started. Maybe the wind had died down. He wasn't to the place yet that he could admit it was because the exercise of walking had warmed him.

McCoy looked at the base of the bushes with the blue jays in them. "And there is a rabbit huddled underneath. I didn't see it at first."

"That is because its normal gray fur has changed to white to camouflage it against the whiteness of the snow. Otherwise, that circling hawk in the sky overhead would see it and claim it for its dinner," he said as he pointed upward.

McCoy looked up, too, at the searching bird. "Hmm. Death is all around us, even in this beautiful setting," he muttered.

"Such is the way of Nature. One dies so the other may live."

"At least that struggle is not so apparent with trees and bushes. They've gone into themselves and are mostly dormant."

"Well, we can try to see a winter rose in the snow," Spock explained as they trudged along.

"Really?" McCoy asked with a grin, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Roses grow in the snow around here?"

"There is a variety that are frost resistant and some are even evergreen. But I must admit that they are not true roses. They are hellebores, but offer us the false presence of roses because the blossoms resemble roses. But they are still here. In the snow. And thereby, they also give us the hope that Spring will arrive soon even though the land is locked in Winter's tight grip at the present moment. Even the trees surrounding us and looking so harsh and stark with their bare branches are waiting. You can tell that by the leaf buds that are even now waiting to burst forth with the gift of renewed life."

McCoy grinned at his companion. "Why, Mr. Spock! I didn't know that you were such a romantic."

"We all need hope, Doctor. There is nothing romantic about that."

McCoy could argue that point, but decided that he could let it pass today, too. The Vulcan was lucky that McCoy was in such a mellow mood, otherwise McCoy would have objected to several things that had been said or had happened in the last few minutes.

McCoy felt his cheeks beginning to redden with frosty air and healthy exercise. This walk out in the cold had been a good idea, after all! He wouldn't go so far as to let Spock know that, though. But he would reward him. Spock was a smart guy. He could read between the lines and know what the gesture really meant. Some things just didn't need to be said.

"Tell you what, Mr. Spock," McCoy said grandly. "When we get back to the entrance, I'll buy you a hot chocolate in the little shop there. That'll warm all the little obscure places in you that have started to get chilled out here today."

Spock was immediately interested. "Chocolate is always a good idea," he agreed. "It would be very tasty and a nice ending to a perfect afternoon out in a winter garden."

McCoy felt new warmth going all through him even though he hadn't tasted the waiting hot chocolate yet. "That it would, Mr. Spock. That it would. Now, tell me more about what else you've spotted out here before my eyeballs freeze over. I wouldn't want to miss anything interesting."

Spock glanced at him with an amused look. "And your mouth? Is it in danger of freezing shut?"

"Don't worry. It's in fine working order. That's why I'll keep talking."

"I assumed you would," Spock murmured as he set out into the snow again.

And although McCoy did not notice it, Spock's amused look had deepened.

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing of Star Trek, its characters, and/or its storylines.


End file.
